Last Chance Harvey

Be warned - the title of Last Chance Harvey is deceptive. You're likely to think it's a last chance for the character to discover love, his family - you know, "it's never too late to...". But in reality it's a warning you realize too late yourself, in that about 5 minutes in you've lost the chance to make a clean escape.

In several ways this is more bleak and depressing a film than Gomorra(which I saw yesterday). It's similar in that Gomorra features a ton of characters that are presented as one dimensional leaving you not caring if they're killed off. Much the same here, except the Italian film did it for a purpose. And a good one - if depressing at times.

Look, I'm not saying "it's never too late" is a bad sentiment. But I am saying there isn't even a 90 minute film with Dustin and Emma worth seeing here. Maybe try Late Bloomers instead.

Oh yeah - the story? Guy estranged from everyone and his job on the rocks goes to London for his daughter's wedding. It's awkward and painful for him and he's fired en route. Then he meets a woman (also relationship challenged) and good stuff happens. You can learn this from the from trailer, or watching the movie. I suggest the former.

And can someone tell me WTF is up with the Polish smoker guy?

I'm probably being slightly too hard - but I really just never cared about the characters and their incredibly predictable movie lives.



Spoiler alert section:
Towards the end of course he runs into the hotel and the elevators are broken. So all but the most casual moviegoer knows he's likely going to have a heart related episode. For a brief moment I was thinking the film might redeem itself by killing off the character just short of true love. But sadly that wasn't to be. In my mind that was probably one of the few things that could have redeemed the film - short of Zombies. No love there either. :-(